The Mountain View Preparatory School Student Council hosted a fundraiser for Low-Income Student Aid at the Dec. 5 Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Governing Board meeting.
The student council raised $300 through a movie night fundraiser and the school’s parent-teacher association raised the donation to $500 to further the students’ generosity. The student council then voted to donate the funds to LISA, which provides direct aid to low-income students in the area to help cover expenses including school supplies, clothing, extracurricular activities, cafeteria costs, birthday gifts, bedding, haircuts and hygiene items.
“It’s really neat to see efforts from the kids helping fellow peers,” LISA President Kelcy Lyons said. “I think what’s missing a lot nowadays is the generosity coming from them. Our fundraising usually comes from the community, business partners, tax credit, even grants, but the fact that young adults and kids would have the ambition to raise money for their fellow peers is really touching and we just so appreciate that.”
“The neat thing is that it’s students helping students,” LISA Treasurer Eric Wyles said. “The story is people helping people. I really feel that’s an amazing example of compassion for those with less.”
LISA started in 2017 in Cornville as a pilot program to provide direct aid to low income families with children at Oak Creek School and worked so well that it has since expanded to include Dr. Daniel Bright School and Cottonwood Community School.
The group filled its first aid request in April 2018 and has filled over 6,500 more requests since then. Anyone can advocate for a student by filling out an aid request form on the LISA website; these submissions are then reviewed by an aid committee.
In September, student leadership at Mingus Union High School also collaborated with LISA to help one of their own students with an assistive adaptive device. This device provides a deaf student with the opportunity to communicate in real time with others who do not know American sign language.
“Kids helping kids needs to be noticed by the community because we need [the] community’s help to keep helping more kids,” Wyles said.
Wyles explained that another aid request was one to pay tuition for taekwondo for a student. The student had suffered neurological issues in the past and was working on getting their black belt, yet was unable to walk. The taekwondo studio made accommodations and said that if the student could ride a bike for three miles, they could still receive their black belt. LISA then purchased the student a three-wheeled mountain bike to help with that goal.
“We want to help students have the best educational outcomes possible and that means that they need to be included in everything,” Wyles said.
LISA has also helped students travel to Washington, D.C., for senior trips and participate in summer programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic response, LISA purchased computers and paid for internet access for families who could not afford it.
“We want people to know the good going on in our community,” Wyles said. “It’s time to change the conversation and start talking about the really good things that are happening.”
For more information, visit oakcreeklisa.org.
